Ardoyne, via Portaferry

It was while some Passionists were giving a Mission in Portaferry, in June 1868, that Dr. Dorrian, the Bishop, approached one of them, Fr. Leonard Fryer, and proposed to him the establishment of a House of Passionists in Belfast.

What negotiations took place during the next month is not known, but on 3 July, the Provincial, Fr. Eugene Martorelli, wrote a letter to Fr. Raphael, who was at that time Vicar of St. Mungo’s, Glasgow, appointing him the first Superior.

“My Dear Fr. Raphael,

It has pleased Almighty God that we should have a new foundation in Belfast. The place offered to us by Dr. Dorrian, the Bishop of that town, is admirably accommodated to us, but it is encumbered with £1,000 of debt. We have there at present, no house, no church, no school, but all say that we shall find no difficulty to have everything, and this in a short time. Let us pray that this may be the case. I hereby appoint you the Superior of this new Foundation. I have sent Fr. Dominic (O’Neill) to prepare everything necessary for our installation . . . Meanwhile, put everything in order . . . remembering that you go to an empty house.

            Yours sincerely,

                        Eugene, Provincial.”

The New Foundation

For some reason, Fr Dominic’s efforts to ‘prepare everything’ did not succeed, and when Fr. Raphael, Fr. Alphonsus and Br. Luke arrived on 3 August to take possession of the new Foundation they found only a plot of land for which they owed £1,000. It was added an added shock to learn, on arrival, that they were expected to pay the money immediately. Indeed, it seemed impossible, as the Provincial (in his final instructions) had written to say: ‘I can only send you, in two or three weeks’ time, thirty or forty pounds, the rest you or your future companions must find by begging, preaching etc.’

The three days that followed were days of deep distress, hope and fear alternating as they bent to their daily tasks and prayed, wrote letters and took counsel with each other as to the best thing to do.

Mr Edward McCormick, the head manager, of Mr. Andrew’s establishment, who lived in a corner house, near the tollgate, with his mother and sisters, solved their immediate problem of having somewhere to sleep and something to eat. Meanwhile, the Provincial was trying to raise the £1,000 by loan through friends in London, but one morning they got a letter from him saying that he had just got word that the money could not be borrowed. The letter continued: ‘It is all over. This week you must go to the Bishop at once and tell him of my sad disappointment. If you have no means to meet the circumstances, please come back (to Dublin) at once. We have had enough of this unfortunate foundation. I wish I had never thought of it . . .’

It was a hard blow, particularly as they had just rented a house to live in from Dr. Harrison Hanna and were then papering and repairing it. But immediately they took action, and Fr. Alphonsos left for Dublin, where in one evening he had procured a loan of £500, with a promise of another £500 to follow. On 6 August he wrote to Fr. Raphael:

'I got this £500 today. The balance will follow soon. I will send you the remittance tomorrow. I hope you will be in the cottage tomorrow. I’ll pray hard and get prayers that God may guide you through all difficulties and bless the great work you inaugurate this week.'

It was a near thing, but that letter of 6 August announced that all was safe. The Passionists had come to Ardoyne to stay.

Edenderry Lodge – The First Retreat

The house which had been rented from Dr. Harrison Hanna is called, in the Retreat Diary, a cottage. Strange designation for a two-storey building which also rejoiced in the grand name of Edenderry Lodge. The Doctor had lived in it himself and had his surgery there. The Diary describes it as being ‘situated behind the newly-built public house on the Crumlin Road,’ which means that it stood roughly in the space between the Ardoyne Hall and School.

Fr. Raphael and Br. Luke moved into it and slept there for the first time on Saturday night, 6 August. ‘They were glad to get into it.’ The Diary notes, ‘even though it was in a fearfully damp state, as was un-mistakenly shown by the slugs perambulating and leaving their shining marks on the floor.’ One has the impression that the slugs never entirely vacated possession, although the Fathers continued to inhabit it until 1881, a stretch of thirteen years. In 1877 it was declared positively injurious to health, and four years later, when the Fathers left it to live in the new Retreat, the young men of the Parish ‘did it up’ and installed a billiard table. It is most likely, too, that the Boys’ Brigade and the various organisations started by the energetic Fr. Anthony used it for meetings and other purposes.

Although the Retreat Diary, in 1890, described it as a ‘dilapidated state’; and although it bluntly refers to it as ‘an eyesore’ on the road, and goes on to relate that Mr. J. J. O’Hare very kindly came and took it down and ‘carted it away for only £5 and the material’: it is quite clear that he missed some of it, for there is mention of the old house again ion 1900. The Diarist of those days writes: ‘ A temporary infant school had been held in part of the old house from the time the present Rector came into office (1890), but that could not continue any longer.’ That is the last we know of it. When it finally vanished is a mystery. Perhaps some of the children of the time would have been able to answer that question!

History of Holy Cross, Ardoyne

The New Retreat of Holy Cross